DRC Research
DRC projects have been supported by diverse sources, including: National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Sea Grant Program, Social Science Research Council (SSRC), and Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI).
Coastal Hazards, Equity, Economic Prosperity and Resilience (CHEER)
DURATION: September 1, 2022 –
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson, Sarah DeYoung, Joseph Trainor, A.R. Siders[/if 449]
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The UD-led hub — Coastal Hazards, Equity, Economic prosperity and Resilience (CHEER) — is one of five NSF-funded projects announced recently as part of the agency’s Coastlines and People program, which is concentrating its research efforts to protect the natural, social and economic resources of U.S. coasts, and to help create more resilient coastal communities.
This five-year project will be led by Rachel Davidson, a core DRC faculty member and UD professor of civil and environmental engineering. Co-principal investigators include Sarah DeYoung, core DRC faculty member and associate professor of sociology and criminal justice at UD; Linda Nozick, professor and director of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University; Brian Colle, professor and division head of atmospheric sciences at Stony Brook University; and Meghan Millea, professor of economics at East Carolina University.
COVID-19: Community Impacts and Adaptation To Crisis: Delawareans Living With HIV/Aids
RESEARCHERS: Tricia Wachtendorf
FUNDING: Internally Funded, Delaware HIV Consortium
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The crisis surrounding COVID-19 impacted communities across the globe. Appreciating that disasters have differential impacts on those affected, this study examined the impact the crisis had on Delawareans living with HIV/AIDS. The study explored issues of preparedness, response, adaptation, and decision-making, among other social consequences, as well as challenges related to health, housing, finances, and support. Over 50 interviews were conducted with clients of the Delaware HIV Consortium to better understand their experiences and needs over the course of the pandemic.
DRC RESEARCH PROJECTS: 36
FILTER BY RESEARCH AREA:
4 Climate Change | 5 Humanitarian Assistance | 6 Infrastructure Risk Management | 12 Protective Actions | 14 Public Health | 15 Response | 3 Social Vulnerability | 4 Warning and Risk Perception | CLEAR ALL
FILTER BY CLASSIFICATION:
11 Active Research | 19 Past Research | 5 Student Research | CLEAR ALL
UD GUR: Infant Feeding in Emergencies: Measuring Changes During Natural Hazards in the United States
DURATION: June 1, 2020 – May 31, 2022
RESEARCHERS: Sarah DeYoung
FUNDING: UD General University Research (GUR)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The research aim for this project is to identify the ways in which hazards and disasters impact infant feeding. Specifically, while pre- and post-data from previous work indicates that disaster evacuations reduce rates of breastfeeding (DeYoung, Chase, & Pensa-Branco, 2018) and may increase use of infant formula, additional research is needed to clarify the mechanisms for this change, and whether the reduction in breastfeeding occurs in multiple hazards contexts, and to what extent these findings are generalizable to the broader populations impacted by disasters. Specifically, the DeYoung et al., 2018 study was conducted among a non-random sample of evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire. Caregivers indicated challenges with access to adequate infant feeding supplies for breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, and mixed feeding. Additionally, qualitative data after the Nepal earthquake (DeYoung, Suji, & Southall, 2018) suggests that choices about infant feeding among families displaced by the earthquake were influenced by breastmilk substitutes distributed by nongovernmental groups (NGO’s). However, additional research is needed to clarify the effect of disasters on infant feeding. Identifying inhibiting factors for sustained breastfeeding and safe artificial feeding during and after disasters can inform new interventions and policies used in mass care and evacuation scenarios. This research will employ a mixed-methods approach to identifying the key variables for bolstering safe infant feeding in emergencies.
UDRF: Infant Feeding in Emergencies: Measuring Changes During Natural Hazards in the United States
DURATION: June 1, 2020 – May 31, 2022
RESEARCHERS: Sarah DeYoung
FUNDING: UD Research Foundation (UDRF)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The research aims for this project are to identify the ways in which hazards and disasters impact infant feeding in the United States and to identify key variables for bolstering safe infant feeding in emergencies. Specifically, while data from previous work indicates that disaster evacuations reduce rates of breastfeeding (DeYoung, Chase, & Pensa-Branco, 2018) and may increase use of infant formula, additional research is needed to clarify the mechanisms for this change, and whether the reduction in breastfeeding occurs in multiple hazards contexts, and to what extent these findings are generalizable to the broader populations impacted by disasters. Specifically, the DeYoung et al., 2018 study was conducted among a non-random sample of evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire in Canada. Caregivers indicated challenges with access to adequate space for breastfeeding in emergency shelters and a lack of access to supplies for safe bottle-feeding. Additionally, findings from qualitative research after the Nepal (Gorkha) earthquake (DeYoung, Suji, & Southall, 2018) suggest that choices about infant feeding among families displaced by the earthquake were influenced by breastmilk substitutes distributed by nongovernmental groups (NGO’s). Additional research is needed to clarify the effect of disasters on infant feeding. Identifying inhibiting factors for sustained breastfeeding and safe artificial feeding during and after disasters can inform new interventions and policies used in mass care and evacuation scenarios
UM/NSF CRISP TYPE 2: Interdependencies in Community Resilience (ICOR): A Simulation Framework
DURATION: September 1, 2016 – August 31, 2021
RESEARCHERS: Ben Aguirre
FUNDING: National Science Foundation, University of Michigan
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Natural hazards engineering, and disaster science more broadly, have evolved into a multitude of highly specialized disciplines, each dedicated to handling a subset of the overall challenge of mitigating the effects of natural hazards. While progress in each discipline has varied by the historical size of its research community and amount of resources devoted to it, a common observation is that computational research is widespread in all fields. By exploiting this state of affairs and using computational modeling as a common language to link disparate disciplines, this project’s proposed computational platform will open the door for researchers to collaborate in new ways. Users will be able to connect their individual computational models (simulators) to the proposed integrative platform and simultaneously run them with simulators from other disciplines to explore the complex interactions that take place between the different systems of society during and after natural hazard disasters. The ability to seamlessly interface with other models with minimal effort will foster entirely new collaborations between researchers who do not traditionally work together, enabling as-of- yet unimagined studies within and contributions to the natural hazards engineering and disaster science fields. The new understanding that will result from this effort will shed light on the complex interactions that take place between policy, casualty rates and community resilience and clarify to what extent policy changes need to be implemented to significantly influence a community’s level of resilience to natural disasters. The work will also have a substantial impact on the development of human resources. By bridging civil engineering, social science and computer science, the students who will work on this project will attain a truly multi-disciplinary education at the intersection of these disciplines. Co-Principal Investigator: Sherif El-Tawil, Professor and Associate Chair, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan
Understanding the Relationship Between Household Decisions and Infrastructure Investment in Disaster Recovery: Superstorm Sandy
RESEARCHERS: Sue McNeil, Joseph Trainor
FUNDING: US Department of Transportation through the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation University Transportation Center at Rutgers
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This study uses an exploratory, multiple case study methodology to explore the most influential factors associated with household decision making in two communities, Oakwood Beach in Staten Island, NY, and Sea Bright, NJ. Both communities suffered substantial losses from the hurricane. They are also both small, coastal communities. The population of Oakwood is 12,038 and the population of Sea Bright is 1,414. They also have key differences. Oakwood is the site of a pilot project that will give homeowners 100% of their pre-Sandy home value with an additional 5% if they choose to rebuild on Staten Island. Sea Bright, on the other hand, is rebuilding in the same location. Data collection for each case study community included a survey and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with adult members of households that sustained substantial damages from Hurricane Sandy. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of survey results and interviews was used to test hypotheses identified in the literature. These results were also connected to the impact of infrastructure disruptions.
USDA: Strengthening Local, Regional, and National Emergency Poultry Disease Response
DURATION: January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020
RESEARCHERS: Jennifer Horney
FUNDING: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This project enhances local, regional, and national emergency poultry disease response. Timeliness is essential to control fast-moving diseases such as avian influenza or Newcastle disease. Local and regional responders can provide an initial capacity prior to mobilization of national level resources such as National Veterinary Stockpile equipment and contractors. On the Delmarva Peninsula, emergency poultry diseases are managed collaboratively between states and agencies and utilize a three-part model in which government, industry, and academia come together to save poultry. This project will strengthen response and enhance teamwork through mutual training in depopulation, epidemiology training on agriculturally important animal diseases; grower training on expectations and roles during an emergency; and grower and industry-oriented mass disposal training.
Using Information at Different Spatial Scales to Estimate Demand to Support Asset Management Decision Making
RESEARCHERS: Sue McNeil, Joseph Trainor
FUNDING: Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The focus of this project is to understand how diverse, large data sets support asset management decision-making post disaster. In particular, the focus is on integrating sensor, survey, demographic, vulnerability and condition data related to the supporting infrastructure, the community, and households.
DRC RESEARCH PROJECTS: 36
FILTER BY RESEARCH AREA:
4 Climate Change | 5 Humanitarian Assistance | 6 Infrastructure Risk Management | 12 Protective Actions | 14 Public Health | 15 Response | 3 Social Vulnerability | 4 Warning and Risk Perception | CLEAR ALL
FILTER BY CLASSIFICATION:
11 Active Research | 19 Past Research | 5 Student Research | CLEAR ALL
GUR – A Stated Preference Survey to Model Patient Behavior During a Biological Outbreak
RESEARCHERS: Sue McNeil
FUNDING: UD General University Research (GUR)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
During a large-scale biological outbreak, public health agencies may employ Points of Dispensing (PODs) to distribute medical countermeasures to affected populations. While the public health community has studied the operation of PODs, little attention has been paid to how patients access PODs and whether the transportation system can support POD access. POD patients’ behaviors and decisions represent a significant obstacle for accurately modeling the traffic impacts of POD operations as little is known of how patients make decisions and what influences these decisions. Our goal is to better understand the patient decision-making process during a public health emergency. In this project, we are designing and implementing a web-based stated preference survey. The stated preference survey will address five distinct decisions: “if patients will go to a POD,” “which POD will they go to,” “when will they go to the POD,” “how will they get there,” and “which route will they take.” Additionally, the survey will examine the effects of providing POD information through news outlets and social media. The survey and data collection design are being structured to calibrate a discrete choice model that can be integrated into the existing transportation model to explore additional scenarios.
HAZARDS SEES TYPE 2: Dynamic Integration of Natural, Human, and Infrastructure Systems for Hurricane Evacuation and Sheltering
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson, Tricia Wachtendorf
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
We are developing a new computational framework to support hurricane evacuation management. The framework, called the Integrated Scenario-based Evacuation (ISE), explicitly represents uncertainty in hurricane evolution and can be used to support robust, adaptive, and repeated decision-making. The hazard is represented with an ensemble of probabilistic hurricane scenarios, population behavior with a dynamic decision model, and traffic with a dynamic user equilibrium model. Components are integrated in a multi-stage stochastic program to provide a tree of evacuation order recommendations and an evaluation of the risk and travel time performance for that solution. The recommendations advance the state-of-the-art because: (1) they are based on an integrated hazard assessment that includes the effects of storm surge, wind waves, tides, river discharge, inland flooding, and wind; (2) explicitly balance competing objectives of minimizing risk and travel time; (3) offer a well-hedged solution robust under the range of hurricane evolutions; and (4) leverage the substantial value of decreasing uncertainty during an event. The first version has been developed and demonstrated in North Carolina. Additional PIs: R. Kolar, Oklahoma, B. Blanton, UNC Chapel Hill, L. Nozick, Cornell, and B.Colle Stony Brook
Infrastructure System Damage Modeling with Data from the 2010-2011 Christchurch, New Zealand Earthquakes
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson
FUNDING: Internally Funded
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The goal of this research is to develop new infrastructure system damage models using statistical methods that are new for this application. Specifically, we are analyzing a large, uniquely comprehensive dataset of water supply system damage from the 2010-2011 Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes. We are comparing generalized linear models, boosted regression trees, and random forest models to see which provide the best fit to the data and the best predictive power. The research aims to improve prediction of water supply system pipeline damage in future earthquakes and improve methods for modeling lifeline damage in extreme events in general. Co-Principal Investigators: Matthew Hughes (University of Canterbury) and Misko Cubrinovski (University of Canterbury)
JHU/CDC: Composite of Post-Event Well-Being (Copewell)
DURATION: August 15, 2017 – August 14, 2020
RESEARCHERS: James Kendra
FUNDING: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
COPEWELL is a systems dynamics model of community functioning and well-being during and after a disaster, designed to be used as a predictor, pre-event, of peri- and post-event resilience at the county level. Current project activities include initial sharing of the model, validation, stakeholder engagement, and evaluation. Principal Investigators: Jonathan M. Links, Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness; Additional Co-PI: Tom Inglesby, MD, UPMC Center for Health Security
Justice and Evaluation of U.S. Managed Retreat
RESEARCHERS: A.R. Siders
FUNDING: Internally Funded
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Managed retreat – the purposeful movement of people and assets away from hazardous areas – is a controversial and potentially transformative climate adaptation strategy. A series of projects are exploring the environmental justice implications of managed retreat in practice and theory; the potential for managed retreat to promote transformative adaptation; how narratives of retreat in media affect public perceptions; and what lessons can be learned from historic examples.
Mental Health Impacts of the Covid-19 Response on the Public Health Workforce in the U.S.
DURATION: January 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021
RESEARCHERS: Jennifer Horney
FUNDING: Natural Hazards Center Quick Response Research
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The prolonged response to the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the mental health of the public health workforce. As we enter the ninth month of pandemic response with COVID-19 cases surging across the U.S., the pressures placed on the public health workforce are intensifying. Given unprecedented simultaneous challenges – the length, intensity, and politicization of the public health response, the potential for overlapping outbreaks of influenza, and the need to plan and implement a vaccination campaign – it is critical to identify protective factors that may mitigate the ongoing mental health impacts on a public health workforce already near its breaking point.
Mission First, Greyshirts Always: An Exploration into the Reintegration Experiences of Short-Term Volunteers Following Disaster Response Operations
RESEARCHERS: Roni Fraser
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Following a disaster, waves of helpers and voluntary organizations converge to the disaster area and provide immediate assistance and emotional support to survivors. This study sought to expand on previous research related to disaster volunteerism and reentry experiences to contribute to the gap in knowledge related to permanent disaster volunteer re-integration and resilience. Through primary data and qualitative interviews with 25 volunteers from Team Rubicon, a national disaster response nonprofit results found that volunteers engaged in additional volunteer activities and communicated with fellow volunteers as strategies for successful post-operation re-integration. Through a social capital approach, bonding and bridging capital was crucial in the development of resilience among volunteers. This study is critical to consider given the reliance on volunteers in the disaster response and recovery process and the need to ensure the mental well-being of disaster survivors and disaster volunteers. To best promote the resilience capacity among volunteers, organizations should focus on the volunteer experience related to billet conditions, diversity of membership and volunteer roles, development of organizational trust, and appreciation of volunteer service throughout the volunteer’s membership. Future research should expand on these findings by quantitatively exploring the volunteer reentry experience with a larger sample of NVOAD volunteers and the role that linking capital may have in influencing the volunteer reentry experience.
NFWF: Resilience Through Regeneration in Northeast Wilmington
DURATION: January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020
RESEARCHERS: Jennifer Horney
FUNDING: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The project uses innovative “resilience through regeneration” design techniques that capitalize on the reuse of vacant and abandoned properties for green infrastructure and use landscape performance measures to quantify resilience and flood risk reduction benefits. Together with hydrologic and flood resilience, social, economic, and public health performance of designs will be measured and reported to the community based on their expressed priorities for improvements to public health, recreational access, and economic opportunities and to federal, state, and local stakeholders that will be involved in future funding, permitting, and implementation of the resilient masterplan for Northeast Wilmington.
NIEHS: Comprehensive Tools and Models for Addressing Exposure to Mixtures During Environmental Emergency-Related Contamination Events
DURATION: April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2022
RESEARCHERS: Jennifer Horney
FUNDING: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Comprehensive tools and models for addressing exposure to mixtures during environmental emergency-related contamination events. Overall Program Description: Climate change and shifts in domestic economic activity markedly increase risks from catastrophic chemical contamination events resulting from weather-related or anthropogenic emergencies. The complexities of hazardous chemical exposures, potential adverse health impacts, and the need to rapidly and comprehensively evaluate the potential hazards of exposures to complex mixtures call for novel approaches in the Superfund Research Program. This Center brings together a team of scientists from biomedical, geosciences, data science and engineering disciplines to design comprehensive solutions for complex exposure- and hazard-related challenges. Our overall theme is to characterize and manage both existing and environmental emergency-created hazardous waste sites through the development of the tools that can be used by first responders, the impacted communities, and the government bodies involved in site management and cleanup. Our case study is a hurricane or flooding event that impacts Galveston Bay/Houston Ship Channel area and leads to exposure to contaminated sediments.
NSF COLLAB RSH CRISP TYPE 2: Defining and Optimizing Societal Objectives for the Earthquake Risk Management of Critical Infrastructure
DURATION: September 1, 2017 – August 31, 2021
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson, James Kendra
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Critical infrastructure systems, such as electric power and water supply, must be designed, managed, and operated so they function reliably and efficiently even in the case of an extreme event. Nevertheless, the way infrastructure system services meet societal needs and the way disruptions of those services impair the ability to meet societal needs are not well understood. In this project, we will define the societal objectives for infrastructure system performance in earthquakes and develop a method to comprehensively optimize a broad range of risk management strategies to meet them, including component design, upgrading, and repair and restoration planning. Specific project tasks include: (1) Developing a probabilistic scenario-based model of the risk of multiple infrastructure systems to earthquakes with the ability to evaluate alternative risk management strategies; (2) Integrating the complementary strengths of social media, household surveys, and economic impact analyses to empirically assess societal objectives, users’ adaptive strategies in responding to disruptions, and the relationships between them and traditional measures of system functioning; (3) Developing an optimization model to optimize risk management to meet societal objectives; and (4) Demonstrating models through a full-scale case study for electric power and water in collaboration with our partners at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
